Here’s a newly surfaced audio interview with David Lee Roth from way back in the summer of 1978! Van Halen was rolling through Texas for a third time during their grueling first tour.
Radio station KTRN 1290 AM’s Mad Martin interviewed David Lee prior to the Van Halen concert at the Memorial Auditorium in Wichita Falls on August 2nd. This little radio spot was recorded the day before.
This was a special show at one of those historic smaller venues holding 2,700. Van Halen headlined, Rick Derringer opened, and both bands stayed at the Holiday Inn downtown.
Interviewer Joe Martin reflects on this interview:
“I always laugh when I hear this recording. I’m asking Van Halen how they got their name! How stupid, but keep in mind they had only been out a few short months and had only had one hit when I did the interview.
The afternoon jock was sick and I got the call to do the weekday afternoon slot. When I got there, I was told I would have to interview the band that was to be playing at Memorial Auditorium. Needless to say, I didn’t know much about them since they were so new. In the day before computers, it took time to do research. I didn’t have that time. I got the call from Roth and did the phone interview [fairly unprepared] which is rather lame on my part.’
Roth must have been psychic when he declared, “Van Halen is music is for the 1980s!” He probably didn’t even know how true that was! Listen to the interview below.
For the old school fans out there! Here’s a newly released Van Halen Vintage Logo Shirt from this era of Van Halen. We love how the screen printing intentionally looks like it was printed back in the ’70s, for that authentic vintage look.
Available in sizes Small through 4XL. It’s a Limited Edition made exclusively for Van Halen Store. Grab yours here.